Greece in All Her Glory; Under the Mystical Full Moon of August

Greece
is positively enchanting, but, when beheld under the full moon of August, it is
transformed into something truly magical.

Why
the August full moon?

This
full moon, known as the sturgeon moon, owing to the large number of fish found
around this time, in the lakes of North America, is the brightest, most
beautiful moon of the year.

Sturgeon Moon
August full moon

Viewed
in the Northern hemisphere, the full moon of August, is low on the horizon,
which gives the illusion that it is so close to earth, you could reach out and
touch it!

Touch the moon

The
dazzling light causes the moon to seem almost as radiant as the sun, turning
night into a never-ending twilight.

A
Greek proverb describes the light of the August moon perfectly:

“Του Αυγούστου το φεγγάρι, ήλιος της ημέρας μοιάζει”

“Tou
Avgoustou to feggari, ilios tis imeras moiazei”

Loosely
translated as:

“The
August moon, looks like the sun of the day”

August full moon
Greece

In
ancient times, the month of August, named Metageition, in the ancient Athenian,
or, Attic calendar was a month of festivals and celebrations

Ancient Greek Athenian, or, Attic Calander

The
word Metageition, meta- among, and geition-neighbour, was a time for partying,
mixing with the neighbours!

The
ancient Olympic Games, held in honour of Zeus and staged in Ancient Olympia
from 776 BC-393 began on the day (The day, in ancient Greece, began at sunset,
not at midnight, as today) of the August full moon, and were held every four
years.

The
tradition still holds today, the modern Olympic Games are held in August, it is
a matter of luck though, if the opening ceremony falls on the day of the full
moon.

Ancient Olympia, Greece
Home of the Olympic Games

The Krypte, official entrance to the stadium of ancient Olympia.
Photo Mark Cartwright

Ancient
Greece has invariably been connected with the mystical moon, from the ancient
lunar calendar, to incredible stories from Greek mythology.

The
most well-know Greek “Moon Myth” is Selene (Also one of the Greek words for moon), Titan Goddess of the moon, who traversed the night sky, in her silver
chariot, the moon, drawn by two, snow-white, winged horses.

Selene
Titan Moon Goddess
Jules Louis Machard 1874

The Parthenon Sculptures. The head of a horse of Selene; Moon Goddess,
from the East pediment.
Now in The British Museum

The
love of Selene’s life was Endymion, the shepherd Prince, the most handsome boy
Selene had ever set eyes on, and who was granted eternal youth and immortality,
and put into a never-ending state of sleep by Zeus.

Selene visiting Endymion
Ubaldo Gandolfi

Selene
paid nightly visits to Endymion, in his cave on Mount Latmos, and eventually
bore him fifty daughters, who represented the fifty lunar months of the
Olympiad, or period of four years, marking the beginning of the Olympic Games.

Today, on
the day of the August full moon, archaeological sites throughout Greece, stay open
well after midnight, entrance is free.

To
see the brilliant white marble of the Acropolis, glowing in the moonlight, or
the moon, hanging low over the Temple of Poseidon at Sounion, is a sight never to
be forgotten!

Acropolis under the light of the full moon of August

Many
festivities, including singing, dancing, musical performances and poetry
reading, food abundant and wine flowing, are held under the light of the moon
at about a hundred archaeological sites and museums all over Greece.

Full moon over the Temple of Poseidon
Sounion
Greece

Full moon over The White Tower
Thessaloniki
Greece

Full moon illuminating the statue of Alexander The Great.
Thessaloniki, Greece.

Full mooon at The Temple of Apollo
Ancient Corinth
Greece

Here are a couple of pictures of Loutraki, Peloponnese, where we live in Greece.

A beautiful photo' of the full moon over the bay of Loutraki, taken by talented photographer, living in Loutraki, Melissa Birley

The full moon over my garden, taken by not-so-talented photographer; me!

Super moon over Loutraki, Greece
10 August 2014
Melissa Briley

August moon over my garden
Loutraki, Greece

Years
ago, the Acropolis remained open all night, not only for the full moon of
August, but for all twelve full moons of the year.

Athenians
would prepare picnics, to be eaten in the glow of the magnificent marble columns
of the Parthenon, and spend the night there, dreaming of magical nights in faraway ancient Greece.

A
wonderful book:

"Six Nights on the Acropolis"
George Seferis

“Six
Nights on the Acropolis”

by Greece’s Noble prize winner (Literature) George
Seferis, tells the tale of seven friends, four boys and three girls, in 1928,
meeting on the Acropolis, once a month, for six months, on the night of the full moon.

The
book is actually a Roman à clef, the protagonist, Stratis Thalassinos, being George
Seferis himself, experiencing his first months back in Athens, after studying
law in France.

2 comments:

I LOVE this post! (Of course the subjects, full moon and Greece, are at the top of my LOVE list, so you had me with the first photo and opening line. I've forgotten much of what I learned in high school, but while there our drama group performed, "Teahouse of the August Moon" and one of the characters explains, that 'The August moon is the oldest and wisest moon." and I've so loved that image, that never has an August full moon appeared that I don't recall it and think how perfect a description it is.